An agricultural harvesting machine such as a combine includes a head and a feeder housing which remove the crop material from the field, gather the crop material and transport the crop material to a separator. In the case of thinner stemmed crops such as soybeans, wheat, etc. which may be cut with a sickle bar carrying a plurality of knives, the head may also be known as a cutting platform. The separator removes the grain crop material from the non-grain crop material. The grain is cleaned and deposited in a grain tank. When the grain tank becomes full, an unloading auger which is positioned alongside the combine during harvesting is moved to the unloading position in which the auger extends approximately perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the combine. The combine drives alongside a vehicle into which the grain is to be unloaded, such as a semi-trailer, and the unloading auger is actuated to discharge the grain into the vehicle.
The non-grain crop material is transported from the separator to the rear of the combine, such as by using straw walkers, etc. If it is desired to maintain the non-grain crop material in windrows, such as when wheat straw is subsequently baled, then the non-grain crop material simply falls to the ground. On the other hand, if it is desired to distribute the non-grain crop material back to the field, then the non-grain crop material is typically transported to a straw chopper, and optionally a downstream blower.
Straw Choppers are used to reduce the size of crop material, other than grain, that is processed by the harvesting machine. Typically, the straw chopper includes a housing that encloses a rotor. The housing is provided with an inlet for receiving crop material other than grain that has been processed and an outlet for distributing the chopped crop material back to the field. The housing is also provided with a bank of stationary cutter knives. The rotor is provided with a plurality of pendulously mounted straw chopper blades that cooperate with the stationary knives to chop the crop material entering the straw chopper. The rotor typically includes a cylindrical tube having a plurality of mounting locations distributed around the periphery of the rotor. The straw chopper blades are pendulously mounted to the mounting locations.
It is known to provide a straw chopper with a stationary knife bank which may be adjusted such that the stationary knife blades extend through the housing a desired amount. Making adjustments with a conventional knife bank design requires that hardware be loosened and tightened on both the left and right hand side of the straw chopper. For an operator that changes crops daily, such as a corn and soybean farmer, it is recommended that the knife bank be engaged for beans and not engaged for corn. Adjusting the knife bank requires that two people make the adjustment by loosening the hardware, manually adjusting the knife bank into the desired position and then tightening the hardware to lock the knife bank in place. This conventional design also requires that tools be on hand and used to make the adjustments to the knife bank. The knife bank can bind during adjustment if one end is raised ahead of the other. The knife bank can be freed from binding by an operator laying on the ground on his back and kicking the knife bank. An alternative adjustment procedure, if only one person is available to make the adjustment, is to make several incremental adjustments from side to side. If a major adjustment is needed, such as moving from a fully engaged to a fully disengaged position, or vice versa, it cannot be done all at once or the above mentioned binding of the stationary knife bank can occur.
What is needed in the art is a straw chopper with a stationary knife bank that can be adjusted quickly, easily and accurately by one person without the use of tools.